UC Irvine kept the opening match of the Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship tournament interesting — for about 15 minutes.

But No. 3 seed Long Beach State prevailed in a sweep after trading points with the No. 6 Anteaters for a good portion of the start of the first set. The Beach beat the Anteaters 25-22, 25-19 and 25-21 in one hour and 45 minutes at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

With Spencer Olivier delivering a match-high 18 kills, LBSU advanced to meet No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara at 4:30 p.m. today.

Olivier notched two of his kills in a five-point run with setter Aidan Knipe serving to put LBSU up 15-10, and it never trailed again in the first set.

It was the ninth loss in a row for UCI (2-14). The Beach improved to 7-4, including two regular-season wins over the Anteaters.

“A really unique environment,” LBSU coach Alan Knipe said. “We’re in an arena where usually it rocks in the first round of the playoffs. Both sides were getting comfortable.”

The 10,300-seat venue was nearly empty (attendance listed as 1), as it has been since reopening this season. Piped-in crowd noise Thursday was nowhere near the decibel levels real-life Hawaii volleyball crowds make, even for matches the home team isn’t playing in.

But Coach Knipe said eventually LBSU didn’t need atmosphere to get fired up.

“Once we figured out we were in a battle, in a match, it was, ‘Let’s just make plays,’ ” he said.

Olivier credited his teammates.

“Aidan did a great job setting me up. And the middles made it so I could swing away,” he said.

Another outside hitter, Ethan Siegfried, benefited, too. The Punahou product added 10 kills and was in on three blocks.

Alexandre Nsakanda led the Anteaters with 11 kills.

“We stayed with them pretty much every set,” UCI’s Joel Schneidmiller said.

But in the second, Irvine never led again after 1-0. The Anteaters threatened to extend the match late in the third, tying it at 21. Then, after a Beach timeout, two big plays by Simon Andersen and Olivier’s final kill helped LBSU complete the sweep.

“I thought the difference was our ability to receive serve,” Alan Knipe said, after his team allowed just one UCI ace.

Long Beach State won despite erratic serving: seven aces, but 19 errors.

Irvine has been in the islands since last week, when it finished the regular season against undefeated, top-ranked Hawaii, which is also the favorite to win this tournament at home. The Anteaters extended UH to five sets on Friday before losing in three on Saturday on the Warriors’ senior night.

“I think we just ran out of time,” Irvine coach David Kniffin said, referring not to Thursday’s match, but to the COVID-19-shortened season’s effect on his young team. “That’s the same for a lot of programs. I like what we showed against Hawaii (last) Friday.”

Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara (13-4) beat each other once in regular-season matches last month.